


Angel Under the Stars

by QuillMind



Series: December Ficarama 2017 [13]
Category: Drifters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Comfort, Elf/Human Relationship(s), F/M, Insecurity, Loneliness, Making Out, Other, Reader-Insert, Romantic Fluff, Snow, Snow Angels, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-14 21:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13016052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuillMind/pseuds/QuillMind
Summary: It can get lonely being a stranger in a completely different world--moreso if you have no idea where said world even is.  Homesickness and nostalgia lead you to gaze up at the stars alone one winter night while making a snow angel, but you're quickly reminded that you are not truly alone.A sequel to”Learn About You.”





	Angel Under the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Callbaaack! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
> 
> I already had at least one story in mind as a continuation to "Learn About You," but then I started doing this event, and this idea occurred to me. 
> 
> So with that said, **SEASON 2 COME ON ALREADY!**

Since the Drifters had freed them from their human captors, the elves had abandoned their stone and wood farmhouses and never looked back. Behind the castle of Verlina was a hill that provided a nice view of the forests beyond. There was plenty of game there, along with herbs, berries, nuts, and clean, fresh water. By occupying the forest, the elves regained some measure of their culture and identity, as well as becoming lookouts for the Drifters for that region of the land.

You had also come to find an appreciation for the elves’ more ‘natural’ way of life, though it was not without its challenges, particularly in the winter. Elves were far more tolerant of extreme temperatures than humans, so while Shara, Mark, and Marsha went along as usual with only one or two extra layers of clothing on, you were so cold that you could barely function while outside. Thankfully, Saint-Germi had an overabundance of clothes, and it did not take him long to find some items for you to wear, including a heavy, fur-lined cloak with matching gloves and a wool tunic.

“You can keep them, darling,” the eccentric nobleman had said with a fluttery wave of his hand. “They don’t fit me anyway, and besides, they are so last season.”

You thanked Saint-Germi many times, though you had to disagree with his assessment of the clothes as being out of style. Putting the animal fur issue aside, you guessed that the ensemble you were wearing would cost a fortune back in your world, and was the sort of thing that celebrities wore on the covers of magazines.

Magazines. Celebrity antics. Social media. 9-to-5. Bills. Relationships, or lack thereof. Stuff ranging from asinine to seemingly life-alteringly important, but not anymore. Not when real worries like staying alive and ridding the world of actual evil had taken center stage.

Maybe you were influenced by the season, the way everything became quiet and covered by white, out of sight and out of mind, but the next thing you knew, you’d taken a torch and left the elven camp to climb the hill. You listened closely to that weighty crunch of snow under your feet, remembering how you loved that unique sound when you were a child.

At the top, you staked the torch into the snow so that it stood straight up, and after a moment fell flat on your back with a muted ‘thump.’ It was the only sound you heard for miles around.

There were no clouds tonight, allowing for an unobscured view of the sky. You remembered reading about how before cell phones and GPS existed, people figured out where they were in the world by watching the stars. Here, there were no streetlights or skyscrapers to blot out the twinkling stars in the endless velvet night.

But you didn’t recognize any of them. Beautiful though they were, there wasn’t a single constellation that looked remotely similar to any that you knew from books and pictures.

Seized by some impulse, you straightened your limbs and swept them across the snow; arms up and down, legs side to side. Soon a fine snow angel formed around you.

Saint-Germi would probably have a fit if he saw what you were doing while wearing such finery, you thought to yourself. You closed your eyes and stopped moving. When was the last time you’d done this? Probably before high school...

“What are you doing?”

A worried voice. One that you had come to know quite well.

“Shara,” you murmured, opening your eyes. The young (proportionately, as he was over a century older than you) elf was staring down at you with a mystified expression.

“You shouldn’t be alone out here like this!” he cried, dropping to his knees and pulling you into a sitting position. “It’s dangerous, and it’s far too cold for you to be lying in the snow.”

“Shara, I’m fine,” you smiled, taking hold of his arms to get his attention. It was endearing, really, the way he fussed over you, closing your cloak tighter and brushing the smallest chunks of snow away like they were offensive pests.

“Ah--I didn’t mean to make you worry, I… I just felt like coming out here.”

That only mollified Shara a little bit, so you explained further.

“I was looking up at the stars, and I don’t see anything I know. It was just… another reminder that I’m in a completely unknown world that no one else knows.” You bit your lip and offered a bittersweet smile.

Shara’s breathing hitched in his throat. Your circumstances shackled you with a loneliness that few could even begin to understand. True, the other Drifters were from the same world, but there was so much time separating you from them that they may as well have been denizens of this world, from your point of view.

“Do you wish you could go back?” He was afraid to ask this question, afraid of your answer, but he couldn’t ignore anything that troubled you.

“There are things that I miss,” you replied, “and people that I wish I could see and talk to. As long as I’m here, I’m probably always going to have these moments once in a while.”

Shara looked crestfallen, but you palmed his cheek to make him face you.

“But being without you would hurt so much more,” you said. Lunging forward, you caught Shara in a tight hug--which he quickly returned. He squeezed you against him almost to the point that it hurt; it was as though he wanted the two of you to be merged into one body.

“I saw you there in the snow… For a second, it looked like you were going to disappear.”

You peeled yourself away just enough to let him see your hand move downward. Opening the front of your cloak, you showed an intricate, handmade necklace around your collar.

The malejrippa--the elves’ symbol of their undying love for another. Shara had given it to you months ago in the forest, and you’d not taken it off ever since.

“I’m not going anywhere, Shara. Even if that man in the hallway appeared right now and said I could go back, I wouldn’t do it. That’s the decision I made when I accepted this. Because I love you.”

The young elf breathed an emotional sigh and embraced you once more. Nothing was said for a while, and nothing existed outside of the two of you, the snowy hill, and the stars. Then Shara’s hands framed your cheek, and he bent his head to kiss you.

It took you by surprise; physical intimacy had been limited between the two of you due to the unpredictability of being at war with the Ends, general new-love shyness and an unspoken nervousness about the differences between human and elf. But with the way his mouth was moving against yours right now, even teasing it open to poke his tongue in a little, a hungry heat was quickly building speed inside of you. When you finally broke apart, breath visibly puffed from both of your lips like steam.

“Um… we should probably head back,” Shara said, his face going pink.

“Yes… we should,” you agreed.

There was a beat as you stood up together, suddenly unsure of what to do or say.

Shara cleared his throat to change the subject. “What were you doing on the snow there?”

“I was making a snow angel.”

He cocked his head. “What’s an angel?”

“Ah… They’re creatures that look like people but have wings and great powers. See, the arms make the shape of the wings.”

“What do angels do?”

You thought for a moment, wary of how far to go into the giant can of worms that was Earth religions. “They help people, fight evil, serve under God—a higher power, that is.”

Shara fell silent in contemplation of this information, then said, “You’re an angel.”

You blinked and shook your head, flustered. “N-no, Shara, I’m not. Angels are pure and beautiful, and, and—”

“Yes, you are, you really are,” the elf declared firmly. “You were sent by a higher power, that man in the hallway, and you’re helping Toyohisa and the others to fight against evil.” He pointed to the ground. “And you have wings. You’re an angel.”

You tried to work up the energy to refute him, but couldn’t find it in you when he spoke so earnestly and was grinning with such reverent affection. Relenting at last, you gave him a shy smile and a peck on the lips, which he returned many times over.

“I love you,” he whispered, stroking your hair as he hugged you tight. “I love you, angel.”

_My angel._

**Author's Note:**

> This might not be the last we've seen of these two, just sayin'.
> 
> Me on [Tumblr!](https://quillmind.tumblr.com/)


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